Microfarm provides locally grown flowers to Flathead Valley

While anticipating the arrival of her first child, Grace Powell received the devastating news that she had cancer. Unable to receive treatment due to her pregnancy, Powell waited with anticipation for her son to be born. 

“After he was born, I got a week with him, and then he was taken away so I could get radiation. A month later, when I finally was able to hold him, I could only hold him for an hour at a time. I couldn't kiss him or anything because you can still emit radiation for months after going through the process,” she said.

The lost time helped Powell decide to stay home with her baby, and she began growing flowers, a practice she discovered from her mother during her childhood. Though it started as a hobby, Powell took the leap three years ago to start her urban flower farm, Cranky Goose Hill Farm.

Located in Lakeside, the farm provides locally and organically grown flowers to the Flathead Valley.

“I was already growing flowers and giving them away, but when the pandemic hit, I decided just to go out and start [the farm],” said Powell.

Powell’s mother, who homeschooled her and her siblings, was an avid gardener, basket-weaver and canner. Though she has since died from an autoimmune disease, she handed down her love for what Powell calls “the simpler things in life.”  

“She was this feisty redhead,” Powell recalled. “She was adventurous and she really did cultivate our love for growing and canning.”

While Powell’s farm started with just 10 flower subscriptions, she now has 50 and sells out every year. In addition to subscriptions, she offers arrangements for any occasion as well as wholesale. 

“Blacktail Grocery was the first to carry our flowers,” said Powell. “I asked them if they were interested and they said, ‘Yeah, bring some in and we'll see how it goes,’ and they just flew off the shelf. They are our biggest supporters and we still take our flowers there all summer long.”

Powell explained that in general, most flowers at the grocery store are not grown in the United States, but are shipped in from all over the world. By purchasing her locally grown flowers, Powell says community members can reduce their environmental impact, as well as ensure that the product they are bringing into their home is pesticide and herbicide free. 

“[The flowers] from stores are shipped in from overseas,” said Powell. “Our flowers are not traveling as far so you don’t have all the packaging with it, and you really cut down on a lot of waste when you buy local. It's just like buying local food and it makes a big impact not only on the shipping and the plastic, but also the chemicals that are used. We're not labeled organic, but we do grow all of our flowers organically.”

As Lakeside is on the side of a mountain, the quality of soil is poor and rocky, making growing a difficult endeavor, according to Powell. To improve the quality, Powell uses leaves from neighbors to compost and bring in her own soil, but in the future, she hopes to expand the farm with more land in a location with better soil quality. 

“It would be nice to be in an area like Somers. They’re a little bit warmer and have really great soil,” said Powell. “We’re called a micro farm, so we’re not quite a full acre. We would really like to venture out into more stores and get more locally grown flowers to the community and hopefully get some employees in the future.”

In the off-season, Powell makes wreaths made of pine boughs and dried flowers and offers wreath-making classes at the Bigfork Art and Cultural Center.

The farm’s name, Cranky Goose Hill, is inspired by the two geese that live on the farm, Norman and Jessie, aptly named after the protagonists in the quintessential Montana film, “A River Runs Through It.”

“When we lived in Dillon, someone from the forestry department asked if I wanted to rescue some geese and I said yes. We thought they were both female but they're a mated pair,” Powell said with a laugh. 

Other inhabitants of the farm include several chickens and ducks, including an adventurous Cayuga black duck named Pickles and her companion, Parsley. 

“Pickles goes kayaking and paddleboarding with me,” said Powell. “She’s not really cuddly, but she’ll come inside and sit on my lap and she has a little leash she can wear.”

Between tending to her flowers and her two-legged friends, Powell stays busy and says that she appreciates the overwhelming support she has received from the community of Lakeside. 

“I love being out here, being with the animals, and being with the flowers,” said Powell. “I have really loyal and awesome customers and I don’t see myself doing anything else.”

To find out more about Cranky Goose Hill Farm, visit crankygoosehillfarm.bigcartel.com or on Instagram @CrankyGooseHillFarm. 

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.

    Flower gardens at Cranky Goose Hill Farm in Lakeside. (Courtesy photo)
  

    A bouquet from Cranky Goose Hill Farm. (Courtesy photo)
  

    The farmstand at Cranky Goose Hill Farm in Lakeside. (Courtesy photo)
  

    A bouquet from Cranky Goose Hill Farm. (Courtesy photo)